Walmart plans to launch an Android tablet designed to compete with the cheapest iPad model, according to a new report. The sources claim Walmart’s tablet will be ‘kid-friendly’ and sold under the retailer’s ONN store brand. The company has confirmed plans to offer this tablet, but didn’t provide any official details about it, such as price and launch date.

Walmart already offers a number of electronics under its ONN brand, though they are primarily accessories like headphones. The company reportedly plans to focus on electronics and home items over the following year, at least according to alleged senior management presentations leaked by Bloomberg.

Among its alleged tablet plans is said to be a model designed for — or at least capable of being used by — kids. This model will supposedly undercut Apple’s cheapest iPad model, which is currently priced at $329 USD. It’s unclear whether the model will offer anything special as an attractive lure from Apple’s 9.7-inch slate.

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It’s unclear whether Walmart’s kid-friendly tablet will target older kids or come with the same protection features and parental controls as the Amazon Kindle Fire Kids Edition.

What is it with the media’s obsession with Apple?
Do they really think an Apple customer would actually replace an iPad with a generic chinese android tablet from WalMart? Are they really that clueless? Or is it just another chance to give Apple some free publicity?

WalMart doesn’t compete with Apple anywhere.
They compete with Amazon.
And Amazon makes the most popular cheap tablets around.
Which they use to drive sales of ebooks, music and video subscriptions, and even dry goods.
So yes, WalMart doing a cheap tablet makes sense to try to blunt Amazon’s growth.

Has nothing to do with Apple.
Unless you believe everything is about Apple.

The Wanna-Be probably won’t be sold on Amazon, at least not by WalMart. Amazon made an announcement a couple of years ago — I don’t remember what it was; I think it was when they were buying Whole Foods — and immediately after that WalMart designated them a competitor. From that point on they quit selling the Kindles in their stores.

Right, but the point is that Walmart does not consider Apple to be a competitor, but does consider Amazon to be one. The quickest way to tell is to see which brand their stores carry. Now, whether or not Amazon sees Walmart as their competitor is a different thing.

Probably because both suffer the same handicap: no internal tech operation. Both rely on rebadging generic hardware. Very little added value to distinguish themselves from the no name devices all over.

It all depends on who you’re looking to sell to and how long you’re looking to stay in that sideline business. Dollar stores sell lots of generic, cheap, disposable gadgets. Walmart, too.There’s money to be made off the unwary. But repeat business is hard to find afterwards, when the gadgets die. (B&N has had their share of fiascoes: exploding power supplies, tablets that shipped with onboard viruses…)
Selling tablets isn’t as simple has selling blister pack LED flashlights.

Over the holidays, Walmart started selling gaming PCs. A high ticket item. The gaming world was underwhelmed.

It all depends on who you’re looking to sell to and how long you’re looking to stay in that sideline business.

Just like any other product line, they stay as long as it is profitable. It’s just another product sold in their stores, not a sideline business. That’s what Walmart does. they sell stuff.

They also sell smart phone service. They put their name and marketing on a system run by a larger telecom. It used to be T-mobile, but changed a few years back.

And repeat business? Perhaps they will get lots of it if the items perform well. Perhaps they will get none if they don’t. We don’t know how they perform yet. (But I do know the iPhones and service they sell work just as well as the major carriers at less than half the price.)

But, since they are selling phones from major manufacturers, and service from a major carrier, I wouldn’t call it a sideline business. Just more stuff to sell in the store.

Seems to me Google is shifting to Chromebooks or even Chromebooks with detachable screens (a/k/a tablets) as the main competitor to Ipads. Most apps from the Google Play store now work on Chromebooks as well.

Kind of stinks for me, since I’d love an Android version of Scrivener. But Literature & Latte can’t be blamed for dragging their feet over development when Google itself seems to be walking away.

As others have noted this seems poised to compete with Amazon rather than Apple. I can even see it working if they offer — for the same price — out of the box support for Google Play rather than Amazon’s wonky Android fork/walled garden.

It no longer much matters what Google does with Android. It’s an Open system and they only control tbe licensing of their own branded apps–GMAIL, CHROME, PLAY, etc. That is why Amazon’s FIRE OS exists and thrives. There’s nothing Google controls in it.

Google doesn’t do Android tablets? No matter; Amazon does. So does Samsung, Lenovo, Adus, Acer, and a hundred chinese outfits. Amazon replaces the googly bits with things like Alexa, Silk, Bing or other apps of their choice.

In fact, Microsoft has enough Android bits they can assemble an MS Android at a moment’s notice. Almost a hundred apps to replace all the googly parts and then some. The only reason they don’t is they make more money off piecemealihng the apps, often for “free”.

It would be even more of an Amazon competitor if they pre-loaded their e-reading app onto the tablet and put some of them over by the Kobos and e-book cards. Not likely to happen though, one hand does not know what the other is up to.

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